Reading Room
A new approach to narrative in Iran
The book “Iran; A Narrative of a Non-Newtonian Fluid,” focusing on narrative writing and documentary accounts during the period of national defense, authored by Mehdi Kamoos, has been released.
According to IBNA, the book has been published by the Mahva Student Cultural Collection. In part of the book’s introduction, the author raises fundamental questions about the nature of contemporary conflict:
“Is the nature of our struggle now political and economic, or has it become military? Is it a civilizational battle, an apocalyptic one, an ethnic conflict, or a religious war? What should be done now? In other domains, too, we have not always acted consciously. For example, during the sanctions period—which, in my view, is the most difficult form of conflict, and one we have endured for over 25 years in an unprecedented way—we must ask: how have we written and narrated these sanctions? We still lack ethnographic accounts, oral histories, or memoirs of this period.
In the near future, it will become clear that sanctions have been even more difficult than military conflict, and now the two have become intertwined. Military confrontation, in fact, serves to complete this broader struggle.
While we anticipated in our discussions that sanctions would be the hardest form of conflict, their traces are absent from novels, films, plays, and memoirs. We do not see how sanctions have affected family structures, public health, industry, or employment.
Today, with military conflict more visible, there is a shared sense of urgency to document these moments — hopes, acts of bravery, martyrdom, fear, anxiety, faith, miracles, political concerns, and psychological operations. Yet what comes to mind less often, though it is more important, is the narration of the primary battle — the enduring struggle rooted in the confrontation between the divine human being and demonic forces.”
The book also explores the concept and structure of narrative. It defines narrative as the structuring of human experience, emotions, and thought. To express feelings, ideas, or events, a framework is needed — one with a beginning, middle, and end, as well as its own form and language. Narrative, therefore, becomes essential for explaining how people endure conflict, manage emotions, and understand their surroundings.
According to the text, every narrative consists of three essential elements: the narrator, the story, and the discourse. While the narrator and the story are usually visible and identifiable, discourse — the act and method of narration — remains implicit and can only be inferred through its signs.
The author emphasizes that the narrator need not always be the writer; it may be a constructed character capable of effectively conveying the story and influencing the audience. Narratives can be told from diverse perspectives — a child, a young woman, an elderly man, an object, or even abstract or imaginative voices.
In narrative, we need a story, a memory, a biography — some event or occurrence. After all, there must be something we intend to narrate. What is it that we want to tell? In any case, expressing any action requires both a narrator and a story (a tale or account).
If the narrator tells a tale, it becomes a story; if they recount a memory, it becomes a memoir; if they present a news event or report, it becomes a documentary narrative. If they produce a poetic and emotional piece of writing, it becomes a personal reflection.
Here, by “story,” “tale,” or “narrative,” we mean an experience, incident, event, memory, feeling, or idea that requires a narrative structure in order to be expressed. In fact, within a narrative, the “story” is the content the narrator intends to convey. This story may take the form of news, a report, a memoir, a biography, oral history, a travelogue, or even fictional accounts.
Discourse in narrative refers to the act of narration itself, which shapes the hidden ideology of the narrative. In other words, discourse is the underlying ideology embedded within events, characters, settings, dialogue, and descriptions. It is conveyed through the arrangement of events, the actions of characters, dialogue, atmosphere-building, and the depiction of place, environment, and moments.
For instance, if someone intends to present the conflict between Iran and Israel directly as an apocalyptic or civilizational battle, they would move toward writing an article or a statement. In narrative, if we express ideas directly, the result becomes closer to an article or a news report. Narratives should avoid such direct exposition.
For example, if we aim to portray this conflict as civilizational or apocalyptic, this discourse should emerge through the setting and characters. The lasting impact of works like “Revayat-e Fath” by the late Morteza Avini lies in their narration of the Iran-Iraq War within the discourse of the “Sacred Defense,” conveyed through depictions of fighters, environments, and locations in language suited to that atmosphere. Similarly, works such as “Zakhmdar” by Jahangir Khosrowshahi and “Shab-haye Qadr of Karbala-5” by Nosratollah Mahmoudzadeh endure for the same reason.
However, when discourse is discussed in narrative, the focus shifts to how the narrator tells the story and what methods and patterns they employ. In other words, discourse determines from whose perspective the story is told, what the narrator’s characteristics are, and what tone and style of expression the narrator uses.